Homebrew Class: Bladians.

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WHAT ARE BLADIANS?

The Path of Blades is the physical manifestation of the Bloodsinger, an Amrita – that is, a creature that exists in the impossible space between spirit, archetype and god – that feeds on life force, particularly the essence of mortal blood. Bloodsingers do not possess corporeal forms, and are therefore incapable of feeding until they latch on to a host. Hence, a Bladian becomes the extension of the Bloodsinger’s will, reaching the peak of their physical condition and gaining all of the abilities possessed by the Bloodsinger, becoming a fearsome and preternaturally skilled warrior in exchange for their life and, in some extreme cases, their sanity.

A Bladian appears to live on a higher plane of existence, seeing things and knowing things that most would be unable to discover or perceive. He is also a merciless killer on the field who literally seems to become the Bloodsinger parasite rather than remain the creature’s host. There is little pleasure or gusto to achieve in fighting: there is only the cold satisfaction of fulfilling their pact through constant combat. Of course, Bladians pay dearly for the otherworldly strength that they possess. The Bloodsinger is a ravenous creature, and when there is no blood to consume off the battlefield, the creature turns its own fangs upon the body of its host. Some suspect, however, that the real reason why they slowly eat their host up rather than continuously preserve them is that the Singer does not wish to get attached to its new vessel.

POWERS & ABILITIES

Bladians often fight with two swords in hand and their remaining weapons hovering within arm’s reach. When they fight, they hack tirelessly through enemy lines leaving their swords impaled upon the bodies of their opponents and plucking their remaining weapons out of the air as they go along; when they run out of swords to drive into their foes, they simply raise one hand and any one of their weapons will come to them on a whim. When there really are no swords to fight with, Bladians can form weapons through their own blood.

Another popular tactic would be using the blade fan; while they fight with two of their swords, the rest of their swords form themselves into a barrier that immediately parries and counterattacks any assault directed at their master. With their swords in hand, Bladians are already capable of dodging bullets and evading magic blasts; with the blade fan, their defense is nigh impenetrable.

On a final note, as hosts to Bloodsingers, Bladians are practitioners of the Blood Mantra — this is a very controversial aspect of the bladesong, as it involves spells and incantations that use its user’s blood and the blood of others as its medium. This goes well with the Path of Blades, and while it augments a Bladian’s abilities it also increases the toll that the bladesong takes upon the Bladian’s body.

BLADIANS IN TODAY'S VIGIL

Bladians have always been rare supernaturals because of the intimate nature of their awakenings – a Bladian is, after all, the result of the forging of a pact between a mortal and an Amrita, those visceral spirits-between-spirits. Furthermore, a good number of Bloodsingers – the Amrita who serve as the spiritual parasites of their Bladian vessels – instinctively know that it’s a much more dangerous world, and would rather focus their energies on feeding in places where they won’t be so viciously policed. In spite of this, however, the number of Bladians in the Fifth World has been on a steady rise since 2012. This may be attributed to the fact that a growing number of Bloodsingers are keenly interested in becoming human insomuch as their condition would allow them to. Some have taken to making Pacts with human vessels in order to aid their mortal comrades. Others actually watch over the offspring of their deceased hosts, and offer the Pact when a descendant of their former host is in need, or when they feel that one descendant is particularly worthy of what they have to offer.

On another note, Bladians now instinctively devote themselves to the Blade King, because their Bloodsingers recognize him (or in other cases, his former Bloodsinger Sakura) as the strongest and most fearsome of their number. As such, it should not be too surprising to note that at present, Bladians are almost always hunters, and are almost always found within Zangyaku’s ranks. Those who rebel or attempt to upset the new world order in any fashion are often destroyed by the Blade King himself, if another more enlightened member of their number don’t get to him or her first.

GOT QUESTIONS?

Players who are interested in creating a Bladian may download our guide here. For the full document on character creation, download our guide here.